NYC Streets

"F" Streets of New York

Generic Entries

Five Points.

An area that, from the 1820s to the early 1900s, was notorious for its crime and squalor. The Five Points neighborhood, mainly built on the site of the filled-in Collect Pond, extended from Centre Street east to Park Row and the Bowery; and from Pearl Street north to Canal Street. Most of the buildings in these blocks were replaced by courthouses and other public buildings in the early 20th century. The name refers to what was once the five-way intersection of Anthony, Cross and Park Streets. This is now the much altered intersection of Worth and Baxter Streets, at the southwest corner of Columbus Park. See Tyler Anbinder's Five Points (2001)

Street Names

Factory Street. (E-M19) From 1813 to 1853, the name of what is now Waverly Place between Christopher and Bank Streets. See also Mary Street (2), Eliza Street (1) and Catharine Street (4).

Fair Street. (L17-E19) Until 1816, the name of Fulton Street between Broadway and Pearl Streets. See also Partition Street.

Farlow's Court. (M-L19?) According to Post, at the rear of 153-161 Worth Street. This may have been the court behind the Five Points House of Industry, between Centre and Baxter Streets.

Farmers Market. (L19-M20) Also known as the Market Stand. Both are early names for the existing Gansevoort Market, opened in 1884 in the block bounded by Washington, West, Gansevoort and Little West 12th Streets.

Farmer's Wharf. (E19) Just west of Peck Slip.

Fayette Street. (L18-E19) Ran from Park Row to Madison Street, slightly east of the present line of Oliver Street (1). It was realigned and became part of Oliver Street in the early 1820s.

Feitner's Lane. See Verdant Lane.

Feitner's or Fenton's Dock and Saw Pits. (E19) West of Greenwich Street between Watts and Canal Streets. Called Feitner's by Post, but is Fenton's in Elliott's directory of 1812.

Ferry Place. (M19) The present Jackson Street from Water to South Street. See also Ferry Street (2).

Ferry Street (1). (M18-M20) A street formerly running from Gold Street, between Beekman and Frankfort Streets, eastward to Peck Slip at Water Street. The block between Pearl and Water Streets became part of Peck Slip in the 19th Century. The part between Gold and Pearl Streets retained the name Ferry Street until it was demapped about 1960 for the Southbridge Towers housing complex.

Ferry Street (2) . (l18-e19) An early name for what is now Jackson Street. It was called Walnut Street by 1803 and was renamed for Andrew Jackson about 1850.

Ferry Street (3). (M19?) According to Post, a former name for Scammel Street, now extinct. This name may have been used in the 1850s, when a ferry ran from nearby Gouverneur Slip.

Ferry Street (4). According to Post, a former name of the existing Bayard Street (1). This seems unlikely since even in Post's time (1882), when it was somewhat longer, Bayard Street was not particularly near the waterfront. Post was probably referring to Bayard Street (2), i.e., the present Stone Street, which is labeled "Road to the Ferry" on Valentine's 1857 map of original grants.

Field Street or Fieldmarket Street. See Marketfield Street. Fieldmarket is shown on the 1766 Ratzer Map.

Fifth Avenue. (L19) From 1874 to 1878 the present Mount Morris Park West was part of Fifth Avenue.

Fifth Avenue South (1). (M20) A southerly extension of Fifth Avenue through Washington Square Park, connecting with West Broadway, was adopted in 1948. Under the plan, which had been promulgated by Robert Moses, West Broadway would have become Fifth Avenue South and it was sometimes so called in documents of that time. The controversial extension was demapped in 1962.

Fifth Avenue South (2). See South Fifth Avenue.

Fifth Street (1). (E-M19) On the original Commissioners' Plan of 1811, Fifth Street was not mapped west of the Bowery. However, in Randel's Final Commissioners' Plan of 1821 it had been continued west to the present Sheriden Square. The part between Broadway and the Bowery was never built and was eliminated by 1834. The part from Broadway to Washington Square was renamed Washington Place in 1833. The part west of Washington Square was made part of Barrow Street in 1829 but later renamed West Washington Place. See also Numbered Streets.

Fifth Street (2). (L18-E19) The former designation of Thompson Street in the short-lived numbering system for the Bayard West Farm Grid. See also Numbered Streets.

Fifth Street (3). (L18-E19?) According to Post, a former name of Orchard Street in the old numbering system in the Delancey Farm Grid. Orchard is the fifth street east of the Bowery .See Numbered Streets.

Fifth Street (4). (L18) Circa 1786 a designation of the present Ludlow Street, which by 1797 was called Sixth Street in the numbering system for the Delancey Farm Grid. See also Numbered Streets.

Fir Street. (E19) A street running from Grand Street to the East River about 200 feet east of Scammel Street. It is shown on maps of 1803 and 1811 but was gone by 1817. Its site is now covered by the Vladeck Houses. See also Byvanck Street.

First Avenue Market. (M-L20) Built about 1940, it wrapped around the southwest corner of First Avenue and 10th Street. Part of the original structure, at 155 First Avenue, is now an off-Broadway theater.

First Street (1). (L18-E19) Changed to the present Chrystie Street in 1817. See also Delancey Farm Grid and Numbered Streets.

First Street (2). (L18-E19) The former name of Mercer Street in the old numbering system for the Bayard West Farm Grid. See also Numbered Streets.

First Street (3). (M18) A street generally corresponding to the present Greenwich Street in the vicinity of Trinity Church. It was one of three laid out in a 1751 survey of church property. See also Numbered Streets.

First Street (4). (E19) An entry in the Minutes of the Common Council for 1816 refers to Front Street as First Street. Possibly just a transcription error.

Fish Market. .See Coenties Slip Market.

Fisher Street. (L18-E19) A street in the Delancey Farm Grid, running from the Bowery east to Division Street. It was merged into Bayard Street (1) in 1809. In the 1960s all of the former Fisher Street was closed for an urban renewal project.

Fisher's Court. (M19) A group of three buildings at the rear of 22-26 Oak Street between Roosevelt Street and James Street. Its site is now covered by the Alfred E. Smith Houses.

Fitch(e)'s Wharf (1). (E19?) South of Water Street between Catherine and Market Streets.

Fitch(e)'s Wharf (2). (L18-E19) On the East River between Dover and Roosevelt Streets. Stokes says it is on the North River, an obvious error. It is labeled on the Taylor-Roberts plan and the 1804 Wilson plan.

Fitzroy Place. (M-L19) Part of the north side of West 28th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, probably an alley or rear court.

Fitzroy Road. (L18-E19) An old road that meandered north from 14th to 42nd Streets in the vicinity of the present Eighth Avenue. Closed in the 1830s.

Flatten Barrack Market. (L17-M18) At the north end of Broad Street near Exchange Place, 1694-ca. 1746.

Flatten Barrack or Flatten Barrack Hill. See Verlettenberg.

Florence Place. (E-M20) A street along the west side of the Manhattan Bridge approach, from Bayard Street (1) at the line of Forsyth Street to East Broadway at Market Street. Initially called New Market Street, it was named Florence Place in 1913. The part between Bayard and Division Streets was eliminated about 1960 for the Confucius Towers site. The part between Division Street and East Broadway was then added to Market Street.

Fly Market. (E18-E19)..At what is now Maiden Lane between Pearl and South Streets, 1706-1821. See also below.

Fly Market Slip. (E18-E19) Now Maiden Lane between Pearl and South Streets. The word "Fly," however apt it might have been for a market, did not refer to insects. It comes from the Dutch vly, meaning a valley or low lying area, as in Smith's Vly. (This is also the origin of the "fly" in Tenafly N.J.) The slip at the foot of Maiden Lane, earlier called Maiden Slip and Countess Slip, became known as Fly Market Slip after a public market was built there in 1706. The original slip was filled to South Street about 1820 and was made part of Maiden Lane in 1824. For years after the slip was filled in, the space between the new piers at that point continued to be called Fly Market Slip.

Fort Tryon Place. (E20) Now within Fort Tryon Park, it ran uphill from Riverside Drive, meeting Fort Washington Avenue at the west end of Corbin Place.

Fort Washington Avenue. (part) The winding northerly stretch of Fort Washington Avenue was incorporated into Fort Tryon Park in 1931. It is now the park roadway that loops around The Cloisters. See also below.

Fort Washington Place. (E20) The name of Magaw Place was changed to Fort Washington Place in 1921. It was changed back to Magaw Place in 1923.

Fourth Avenue. The former name of Park Avenue, Park Avenue South and Union Square East. The name Park Avenue was first applied about 1860 to the part between 34th and 36th Streets, where a park had been built over the Harlem Railroad tunnel. The name was extended northward in stages, reaching the Harlem River by the end of the 19th Century. In the early 20th Century it was extended south two blocks to 32nd Street. Fourth Avenue between 14th and 17th Streets has been known as Union Square East since the late 19th Century. The part of Fourth Avenue from 17th to 32nd Streets was renamed Park Avenue South in 1959. What remains of Fourth Avenue, the curving portion south of 14th Street, was originally part of the Bowery. See also East Road.

Fourth Avenue Park. See Stuyvesant Square.

Fourth Street (1). (M18-E19) A street in the old numbering system for the Delancey Grid. It was renamed Allen Street in 1817. See also Numbered Streets.

Fourth Street (2). (L18-E19) A street in the Bayard West Farm Grid. It is now West Broadway from Canal to West Houston Streets and La Guardia Place from West Houston to West 4th Streets.. See also Concord Street, Laurens Street, South Fifth Avenue and Numbered Streets.

Fourth Street (3). (E-M19) The part between Wooster and MacDougal Streets was renamed Washington Square South in 1858. Later divided into the present East and West 4th Streets.

Franklin Market. (E-M19) At Old Slip between Front and Water Streets, 1822-ca. 1860.

Franklin Place. See Scott's Alley.

Franklin Street. The block from Baxter to Centre Street was closed in 1937 and the block from Centre to Lafayette Street closed in 1959.

Franklin Terrace. (L19-M20) An alley formerly running south from West 26th Street just east of Ninth Avenue. Its site is now covered by the Penn Station South Houses.

French Church Street. (E-L18?) A former name of Pine Street between Broadway and William Street. L'Eglise du Saint-Esprit was located there from 1704 to 1832.

Front Street (1). (part) Formerly continuous from Whitehall Street to the East River at Corlears Hook. What is now South Street from the Brooklyn Bridge to Montgomery Street was part of Front Street until about 1860. East of Montgomery Street, where the shoreline had been built out an additonal block to South Street, it continued to be called Front Street until the mid-20th Century when it was oblierated by the East River Drive. Front Street from Whitehall Street to Old Slip was eliminated in the 1960s to create sites for a series of large office buildings.

Front Street (2). (n.d.) According to Post, a former name of Greenwich Street.

Fulton Fish Market . (E19-E21) Originally a section of the Fulton Market (see below) the fish dealers were moved to the east side of South Street in 1831. The market closed in November 2005 when the dealers were relocated to Hunts Point.

Fulton Market. (E19-E20) Occupied the block bounded by Front, South, Fulton and Beekman Streets. It opened in 1821 to replace the Fly Market and operated until 1914. The building remained and has been renovated as part of the South Street Seaport development. This market is not to be confused with the Fulton Fish Market, across South Street, which endured until 2005.

Fulton Row. See West Washington Market (1).

Fulton Street. (1) (part) from Church to West Streets was closed circa. 1967 for the World Trade Center.

Fulton Street (2). (n.d.) According to Post, a former name of Nassau Street.